League of Legends Reveals Blue Essence Store Items and Prices

In an FAQ that tackled plenty of questions about the new Blue Essence store that’s coming soon, Riot Cactopus gave players a more detailed look at which items can be purchased.

The Blue Essence store is part of the plan announced previously that’ll merge both IP and Blue Essence together as the new form of in-game currency. Blue Essence will soon be the primary way to purchase everything available for IP in the store at the moment while maintaining its current use involving champion shards.

When the Blue Essence market opens up after the transition from IP to Essence store is completed, players will be able to buy select items with the new currency for a short while to reward those who have been accumulating IP with no way to spend it. From chromas to icons to elusive skins, Cactopus highlighted several attractive items that’ll be in the Blue Essence store when it opens.

If you're behind on all the Blue Essence-to-IP news and are totally confused by what a Blue Essence store even is, you'll definitely want to read up on it before continuing.

The Blue Essence Goods

(Photo: Riot Games)

Blue Essence and IP aside, the big question here is what players can purchase with their new currency. According to Cactopus’ post, there’s quite a bit to choose from for players with new-found Blue Essence fortunes.

As a reminder, players will have a lot more Blue Essence when the transition is made. IP will be converted over to the new currency, and your current Blue Essence amount will be multiplied, and when you combine that with the partial rune refunds players are getting, you'll have even more currency to play with.

If you hope to get much more Essence before the conversion, you can try your luck with this neat trick. But until then, check out what’s been revealed so far for the Blue Essence store:

1,500 BE - Mystery icon box (guaranteed to be an icon you don't already own)

2,000 BE - Chromas (includes all chromas that have been available for at least six months)

2,500 BE - “Mystery Mini” Icons Box (exclusive to the special BE store)

3,950 BE - Mystery Champions (guaranteed to be a champion you don't already own)

But What About My Exclusive URFWick?!

(Photo: Riot Games)

If you’re one of those proud owners of URFWick already and don’t want to be grouped in with a bunch of Blue Essence-spending bandwagoners, Riot’s got a plan for you as well.

Cactopus explained that the URFWick in the Blue Essence store won’t be the same as the one that other players have. It won’t just be a special boarder either that’s seen in the loading screen, though you will be getting that in addition to a unique version of the skin.

“The URFWick skin we release with the blue essence store will be a 2017 edition, similar to what we did with Championship Riven,” Cactopus wrote. “Original owners of URFwick will automatically receive a special limited edition upgrade of the original skin, a loading screen border, AND the new URFwick.”

The Blue Essence Store Isn't a One-Time Thing

(Photo: Riot Games)

Spending a ton of Blue Essence in a store for items that you’d usually have to dish out RP for sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but many players wondered whether or not this was a one-time deal. It seems that it’s not, but don’t expect every item in the store to return when it reopens.

“Right now we're thinking we'll bring back the special blue essence store at least once a year,” Cactopus said. “We're not sure what it will include when it returns, but when we bring it back we'll be sure to include the unique stuff like the rune ward skins and the ‘make it rain’ emote.”

Why No Full Refunds For My Runes?

(Photo: Riot Games)

The way that players would be compensated for their rune purchases over the years has been a hot topic since the new Runes Reforged system was announced, and while the partial refund decision that was reached gives players quite a bit of currency back, players still asked: Why don't I get a full refund?

Cactopus addressed that question as well by reiterating some of Riot's previous statements while stressing that they want to give back to players while also working towards improving the game.

"Our business model is to use the money we get from selling optional content to improve the game, esports, our servers, and everything else," Cactopus said. "Making new runes free for everyone, giving players thousands of BE, and keeping champion earn rates about the same as today means significantly less RP spent on champions, rune pages, and the cosmetics in the blue essence store."

The Rioter continued by mentioning again the sizeable increase in Blue Essence that players will receive during the preseason after the conversion is completed.

"We understand that it can feel bad to have something you paid for suddenly become free for other people, and that's why we're giving folks who spent on runes back in the day the blue essence amounts we announced in Riot Pls," he continued. "But we also have to focus on using our resources to reinvest in the game. We think that giving a little something back (rather than a full refund) strikes the right balance for players today and in the future."

Other Big Questions Answered

(Photo: Riot Games)

In addition to the main talk about what items would be available for purchase in the Blue Essence store, Cactopus also cleared up quite a bit about the way that players will amass their Blue Essence after the transition is complete.

Below are some of the most pressing questions that Cactopus elaborated on in his FAQ post:

Will we receive Blue Essence after every game?

No, the new rewards system is all designed around champion shards (which can be turned into blue essence) dropping whenever you level up.

Mystery Hextech coins are going away. Why?

Mystery hextech coins were added so you'd have a path to upgrade your mastery tokens with IP. Since IP and BE will soon be combined, they've become less necessary. Plus, if you were really into the random champion shards, you’ll be getting those a lot more frequently anyway from the leveling capsules.

I noticed that champ shard re-rolling is going away. What about skin shard re-rolling?

You'll still be able to re-roll skin shards just like before!

Will upgrading to Champion Mastery 6 & 7 still cost the same amount of Blue Essence?

The cost will be scaled up in the same amount as your IP to Blue Essence conversion, so it will "cost" the same in the new system, but the numbers will be higher across the board.

What is Riot doing for people who had special legacy runes?

We'll introduce an exclusive ward skin (shown below) for anyone who owned any special legacy runes OR who spent at least 125,000 IP on runes before the September 1, 2017 cutoff date. We'll also give rare rune owners a special commemorative icon.